- 25 nov 2011
Friday prayers held at the Samrin family home threatened with confiscation
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Dozens of local Silwan Palestinians held the Friday prayers today at the house of the Samrin family in the Wadi Hilwa to the south of the Aqsa Mosque. The Samrin family home is threatened with confiscation by settler organisations. The function was called for by the Committee to Defend Silwan Real Estate.
The Samrin family received a notice to pay about 2 million shekels in fines and to leave their home by 28 November.
Lawyer Ahmad Al-Ruwaidi, who participated in the prayers, said that the home of the Samrin family is one of a number of homes that settler organisations plan to arrogate and expel Palestinian residents of those homes for the purpose of establishing new settlement outposts, especially in the old city of Jerusalem and Wadi Hilwa in Silwan.
He also said that settler organisations are working in full coordination and cooperation with the occupation government as the budget, the security plans were approved to facilitate the removal of Palestinian families from those homes and make them available to settlers.
He said that holding the Friday prayers there is one of the activities approved by the meeting of Jerusalemite activists to prevent the eviction of the family from its home, in addition to following the matter in courts of law through the family lawyer.
Ruwaidi added that the matter is not a legal one but a political one through which the occupation forces are trying to control all the area surrounding the old city, especially that which is adjacent to the Aqsa Mosque.
The Samrin family home lies near the Maghareba gate where the occupation authority intends to build a bridge leading to the Aqsa Mosque as well as biblical parks and synagogues in what is called the Holy Basin project according to plans for 2020 which the occupation government is implementing in Jerusalem.
For its part the Samrin family said that it will adhere to its right to live in its home and that eviction threats is part of the occupation attempts to empty Jerusalem of its indigenous Palestinian population.
http://fwd4.me/0hTB
Israel razing more Palestinian homes
New footage has emerged showing Israeli soldiers carrying out a demolition project and destroying several homes to Palestinian Bedouins in the occupied West Bank.
Without showing demolition orders, two bulldozers, escorted by five military vehicles, entered the village of Beit Hanina on Thursday.
The bulldozers then began destroying a number of homes as well as a barn, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.
Israel claims it demolished the buildings, saying they were built without a permit.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Israeli demolitions have in the first half of 2011 displaced some 700 people.
Chris Gunness, UNRWA spokesperson, says most of the demolitions targets vulnerable Bedouins.”
The UN agency added that demolitions tend to take place in areas considered for illegal Israeli settlement expansions.
http://fwd4.me/0hQU
Israel Demolishes Mosque in South Hebron Hills, Homes in Beit Hanina, Arrest Two Teenage Girls
(1:26) Demolishing Houses In Biet Hanena Al-Tahta 24 11 2011.wmv
Israeli forces carried out a demolition campaign across West Bank on Thursday, destroying a mosque and several other buildings in the village of Susya in the South Hebron Hills, as well as several Bedouin homes in the town of Beit Hanina, near Ramallah. Soldiers also arrested two girls and demolished a cave dwelling with a woman still inside it, breaking her leg.
Two Palestinians were also arrested in Jerusalem during dawn raids on Friday—Haytham Shukri Taha from Beit Hanina and 46-year-old Bassem Idris from Silwan. Both were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and Idris’ cell phone was confiscated. Taha was interrogated at the al-Moskobiyya Police Compound in Jerusalem. Neither have been charged.
On Thursday, east Hebron Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements coordinator Ratib al-Jabour told Palestinian government news wire Wafa that an “enormous” Israeli force raided Khirbet al-Maqfareh, near Susya in the South Hebron Hills, and demolished a 50-square-foot mosque and two houses inhabited by 24 people. According to the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), no demolition order was ever presented.
The owner of first house, Maher al-Tahaan, said the majority of its 10 inhabitants were orphaned babies, while the second building, owned by Mahmoud Hussein al-Tahaan, housed 14 people, four of them with special needs.
A Palestinian man rebuilds his home in the northern West Bank village of Khirbet Tana after it was demolished by Israeli troops
Also in Susya, Palestinian eyewitness Sulaiman Salem al-Adreh from Yatta said that Israeli forces arrested two teenage girls: Amal Jamal Mussa al-Burqandi Hamamdeh, 17, and Sawsan Mahmoud Hussein al-Tahaan, 19.
When Israeli forces demolished a cave dwelling in Susya, a stone fell on 45-year-old old Halima Shahadeh Hamamdeh’s leg and broke it. She was taken to a nearby hospital.
The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) reported that Israeli troops also tore down a barn containing a hutch of rabbits, injuring and killing many of the animals. The property owners were not allowed in to remove them before the demolition.
Also in Susya, a house and cattle barn belonging to Mohammed Musa Mughneym were demolished, and the Susya school was also raided. According to local sources, Israeli soldiers attacked and severely beat the school principal, Mohammed Jaber Musa al-Nuwaja’a, then threatened him that they would be coming back to the school to demolish it.
Demolition notices were given to families from Khirbet al-Derat, east of Yatta, and at least four men were summoned for interviews with Israeli intelligence.
On Thursday in the Jerusalem-area town of Beit Hanina al-Tahta, Israeli bulldozers accompanied by heavily armed troops demolished several Bedouin homes, leaving about 30 Palestinians homeless. The demolition was caught on video by photojournalist Fadi Arouri :
Israeli officers said the homes were built without proper permits. According to Peace Now, 94% of Palestinian permit applications for buildings in Area C are rejected.
http://fwd4.me/0hPo 5 dec 2011, 22:38 , Respect -
Maria 26 nov 2011
OCHA: Israel persists in expelling Palestinians from their homes in O. J'lem
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- For the second time in two weeks, an Israeli court has ordered the eviction of another Palestinian family by the end of the month from their home in the Silwan area in occupied Jerusalem, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said in a weekly report.
OCHA's report, which covers Israel's violations of human rights that happened from November 16 to 22, said that both court orders were issued in the context of settler activity in the area.
According to the report, this family is composed of six members including four children and has been given until the end of the current month to vacate their home and hand over the keys to the court.
This was the second expulsion order issued by an Israeli court within two weeks, it added.
Also in Silwan, the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) requisitioned a piece of land, 850 square meters, belonging to a Palestinian family and the Greek Orthodox Church in order to build a public parking lot.
Settler violence and clashes between the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and Palestinians this week in Jerusalem and the West Bank resulted in the injury of 11 Palestinians including two children and damage to property.
The settlers, during the reporting period, cut down 15 olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in Burin village of Nablus city.
Sewage that is still leaked from Revava settlement damaged dozens of olive trees belonging to Deir Istiya village in Salfit.
This week, the IOA demolished two Palestinian-owned structures in area C of the West Bank, both in Al-Khalil province, at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The two demolished structures included one water pool and one water cistern in the villages of Al-Baqa and Al-Udeisa. As a result, the livelihoods of 29 people, including 14 children, who used the structures for irrigation, were affected. This week’s demolitions bring the total number of water-related structures demolished since the beginning of 2011 to 43.
The IOA also delivered stop-work orders against a mosque, 11 residences and a stone factory in Al-Khalil and Bethlehem cities.
In the context of the re-routing of the segregation wall southwest of Azzun Atmeh village in Qalqiliya city, which started the past week, Israeli bulldozers continued leveling the land along the new route.
So far, approximately 130 dunums of cultivated land belonging to 100 farmers were bulldozed, including the uprooting of some 500 trees. In addition, farmers were forced to dismantle nine greenhouses and approximately 7,000 meters of irrigation networks located along the new route.
Once complete, this section of the segregation wall will isolate some 400 dunums of lands that will be located in the closed area between the wall and the green line, requiring farmers to obtain permits to access their agricultural lands.
During this period, the IOA also bulldozed 18 dunums of land, cultivated with corn by a Palestinian farmer from the Jericho area, and 400 dunums of uncultivated land close to Kafr Addik village in Salfit. In both cases, the IOA claimed that the land was a state land.
Regarding Gaza siege, the report stated that Israel's restrictions on access to areas near the border fence continue to undermine the safety and livelihoods of thousands of Palestinians. On one occasion, the IOF launched an incursion of 300 meters into the Gaza Strip and withdrew after conducting land leveling.
Also, Israeli military restrictions continue to be enforced on fishing zones beyond three nautical miles. In two incidents, the Israeli navy opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats forcing them ashore.
The report also highlighted the issue of tunnels used by Gazans in order to deal with the effects of Israel's blockade.
On 18 November, a Palestinian workman was killed after being electrocuted inside a tunnel in a Gaza-Egypt border area.
Since the beginning of 2011, 34 Palestinians have been killed and 50 others injured in tunnel-related incidents, including air strikes, tunnel collapse, and electrocution.
Tunnel activity remains the main source for the transfer of vital needs and construction materials that are still restricted through the official crossings, as well as fuel that is significantly cheaper to buy from Egypt than from Israel, OCHA said.
http://fwd4.me/0hXC
Report: Authorizing Settlers to Use 'Absentee' Land in Jerusalem Increases
NABLUS, (WAFA) - The National Bureau for the Defense of Land and Resisting Settlement said in its weekly report published on Saturday that there was a rise in Israeli government authorizing settlers to use Palestinian land in East Jerusalem alleged to be absentee property.
The Israeli government authorized and funded settlers groups to use alleged absentee property that included houses and land in the Old City, Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, said the report.
It added that Israel also planned to build a Talmudic garden on the east side of Mount Scopus and al-Issawiya in Jerusalem, thus changing the land status from public construction areas to national gardens, where construction is restricted for Palestinians yet expedited for settlement purposes to geographically link settlements around Jerusalem.
The National Bureau considered the Israeli plan “dangerous” and in line with the escalating settlement practices in Jerusalem to demographically change Jerusalem population by increasing the Jewish presence.
The report also featured a rise in Israeli army and settlers’ attacks in Hebron, including continuous demolition of property, razing and confiscating land for settlements expansion, and assaulting Palestinians.
Israeli authorities handed Palestinians in Rabod, a village south of Hebron, orders to stop construction in four houses under the pretext of having no building permits, as well as destroyed a water well, along with its retaining walls.
Settlers from Kiryat Arba settlement, east of Hebron, and in its old city continued their attacks on Palestinians, whereas settlement activities in Bethlehem increased after the Israeli government confiscated 700 dunums of Palestinian land in northern Bethlehem behind the Apartheid Wall which will completely separate Jerusalem from its surrounding Palestinian towns.
The report also registered settlers’ assaults in Nablus, Salfit and Qalqilya in the northern West Bank.
Armed settlers raided Palestinian villages in southern Nablus under the Israeli army protection, and raided Joseph’s Tomb, east of Nablus, to perform Jewish rituals and prayers.
Wastewater from Revava settlement flooded Palestinian land in the nearby town Deir Estia, which completely destroyed dozens of olive trees and flooded hundreds others, causing severe loss to farmers, said the report.
In Qalqilya, Israeli bulldozers razed hundreds of orange and olive trees along with several greenhouses in Azzun, a village south of Qalqilya, to resume the construction of a new part of the Apartheid Wall, which will take over thousands of dunums.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18131
Jordan making contacts to prevent Israeli demolition of Maghareba bridge
AMMAN, (PIC)-- Jordanian minister of Awkaf Abdulsalam Al-Obadi has condemned the Israeli occupation authority’s decision to demolish the Maghareba bridge leading to the Aqsa mosque.
He said that Amman would hold contacts in cooperation with international agencies to put an end to the IOA constant threats to the third holiest shrine in Islam, the Aqsa mosque.
Obadi was quoted by the official Jordanian news agency (PETRA) on Saturday as saying that King Abdullah II was concerned and was holding contacts to halt the aggression.
The minister underlined that the bridge was built on a Wakf (endowed) land, which is part and parcel of the Aqsa Mosque that has been under Jordanian management since the start of the 20th century on behalf of 1.6 billion Muslims.
The Israeli controlled municipality of Jerusalem had issued an order on 25 October to raze the bridge within a period of one month as a prelude to building a new one at the pretext that the original one was old and was posing a “threat”.
The bridge leads to the Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock and overlooks the Buraq Wall where the Jews offer their prayers.
http://fwd4.me/0hXD
Thousands of Jordanians, Egyptians rally in support of Jerusalem
AMMAN, (PIC)-- Tens of thousands of Jordanian citizens rallied on Friday in Suweima village in the Jordanian Valley, only 25 kilometers away from occupied Jerusalem, in support of the holy city.
Ibrahim Al-Keylani, delivering the Friday sermon at the village, said that the Jordanians were displaying solidarity with their Palestinian brothers.
He championed resistance as the only hope for the liberation of the holy Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, warning that the holy city was the target of a systematic Judaization campaign at the hands of the Israeli occupiers.
Participants torched Israeli flags and replicas of the alleged Jewish temple, which the Jews were seeking to build in place of the Aqsa mosque.
In Cairo, around 5000 Egyptians held a similar rally at the Azhar mosque to declare solidarity with Jerusalem and the Aqsa mosque on the international day for solidarity with occupied Jerusalem.
A statement delivered on behalf of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, said that Jerusalem was a red line and that Muslims would never allow anyone to harm it.
Tayyeb asked Muslims worldwide to mobilize efforts and to confront the Israeli Judaization of Jerusalem.
Khalil Al-Hayya, a political bureau member of Hamas, told the rally that Arabs and Muslims should stand united to liberate Jerusalem, adding that the Israelis were planning to destroy the Aqsa mosque.
http://fwd4.me/0hXB
Sabri: an assault on Maghareba gate is an assault on the Aqsa Mosque
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Head of the Supreme Islamic Council, Dr. Ekrema Sabri said that an assault on the Bab al-Maghareba bridge is an assault on al-Aqsa Mosque itself.
He said in the Friday sermon that the aim of removing the Maghareba mound means removing an important Islamic feature in order to extend the Buraq plaza, all of which are Islamic endowments.
He also talked about the Ma'manullah cemetery which the occupation plans to build "a museum that does not reflect tolerance because it is based on aggression against Muslim burial grounds and on desecrating tombs.” He stressed that the cemetery belongs to the Muslims as the land is an Islamic endowment and is not government property.
Sheikh Sabri also talked in his Friday sermon about the Hijra (migration of Prophet Muhammad PBUH from Makkah to Madina), explaining that the Hijra was not to escape responsibility, but meant relentless work and struggle because the Prophet PBUH was planning to liberate Makkah. The Prophet PBUH announced that there was no Hijra after the conquest of Makkah, this means that people should remain steadfast on their land, he elaborated stressing that the Palestinian people made a covenant with God not to leave their holy land.
http://fwd4.me/0hX9 5 dec 2011, 22:38 , Respect -
Maria 27 nov 2011
Israeli Forces Raze Land in Qalandia Village to Expand Separation Wall
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers razed Sunday the agricultural land north of the village of Qlandia, south of the city of Ramallah, in preparation of expanding the Separation Wall, according to witnesses.
Witnesses said that two Israeli bulldozers, accompanied by borders’ guards, razed land, belonging to the village’s residents, to steal it in favor of expanding ‘Atarot’ settlement.
They added that the Wall will separate a number of the residents’ homes from their village, and will completely isolate the village from the outside world.
Head of Qalandia village council, Yousef Awad, said that the razing process is going very fast and is destroying a lot of land, indicating that the villagers had confronted the soldiers and bulldozers, however, they continued bulldozing.
He called for an intervention to stop the bulldozing that targets the village’s land.
Awad indicated that the area of the land, which is inhabited by 1100 Palestinians, intended to be seized is estimated to around 400 dumuns (1 dunum=1000 square meters), and is owned by a number of the village’s residents.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18145
Residents stage Friday prayer outside threatened Sumrain house
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) -- A public prayer was held on Friday, 25 November outside the threatened ’s house in Wadi Hilweh. Authorities issued an eviction notice to the family several weeks ago.
Dozens of Silwan residents flocked to the Sumrain home for the Friday prayer in an expression of solidarity with the family and rejection of the settler agenda in Silwan. Those attending expressed support for the Sumrains’ long legal battle with Israeli authorities attempting to evict them, and the multitude of fines they have been ordered to pay in an attempt to pressure them out.
The speaker leading the prayer spoke out against the illegality of the settlements in general, and the City of David archaeological tourism settlement in Wadi Hilweh in particular.
http://silwanic.net/?p=22388
Israel razes Jerusalem Bedouin camp
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers and Civil Administration personnel razed a Bedouin encampment, belonging to the Jahalin clan in Isawiya, northeast of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, locals said.
Hani Al-Eisaway of the Isawiya Land Defense committee said the Israeli personnel bulldozed more than 50 dunums of land in what Israel calls the E1 zone in between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim.
He added that six Bedouin families lived in the bulldozed area. Bulldozers destroyed tents and other structures owned by the families.
The E1 area is sensitive because of Israeli authorities' stated intention to establish a new settlement in the area, which would effectively sever the West Bank into two pieces, making a separate Palestinian state impossible.
A spokesman for Israel's Civil Administration did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=328051
Demolitions Continue in 'Aissawiya, Provoking Popular Anger
Jerusalem PNN - Widespread demolitions continued in the occupied central Jerusalem neighborhood of Aissawiya as bulldozers followed Israeli soldiers from house to house and popular rage spread.
Image A Wafa reporter in Jerusalem said the demolitions covered the districts of Barkiyat, Mu'rshat, and Istinadiya and affected the following citizens: Sheikh Riyad, Aissawiya, Ra'ed Abu Riyala, Issa Saleh Khalil Nasir, Ziad Issa Nasir, Mazen Issa Nasir, Isma'9il Issa Nasir, Issa Muhammad Nasir, Samir Nasir, and Issa Naisir.
Ra'ed Abu Riyala al-'Assawoui, a member of the Fatah Organizational Committee and one of the landowners, said the soldiers told him they had issued a demolition notice a month ago. He said this was a flimsy argument that soldiers used every time they removed Palestinians from their lands.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9019&Itemid=62
Israel TV: Netanyahu postponed Al-Aqsa bridge demolition
A Palestinian child holds a model of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque during a rally in Rafah city, in the southern Gaza Strip.
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed the demolition of a bridge providing access to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque due to regional pressure, Israeli media said Sunday.
The plan to tear down and rebuild the Bab (gate) al-Margharbeh walkway was shelved for an unspecified time period on Saturday while officials study different aspects of the issue, Israel's Channel 2 television reported.
Israel's Jerusalem municipality said on Oct. 24 it needed to demolish and replace the bridge within 30 days due to danger of collapse or fire, PA official news agency Wafa reported.
But the move was stalled after Jordanian and Egyptian pressure, Channel 2 said.
The Jordanian Minister of Islamic Affairs said on Saturday that King Abdullah II of Jordan was personally following up the issue, working with international organizations to stem the demolition. Jordan says it has developed an alternative solution with the UN's cultural agency UNESCO.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood held a demonstration at Cairo's al-Azhar mosque on Friday, calling for the "liberation" of Jerusalem from Israeli control. The same day, Hamas and Islamic Jihad rallied in Gaza for the protection of Jerusalem's Palestinian character.
The PLO and Palestinian Awqaf (Islamic endowments) officials have also made appeals to halt the demolition of the bridge, a main access route to to the Islamic holy site the Haram al-Sharif compound which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.
Israel seized control of East Jerusalem -- including the Old City -- after a 1967 war, and annexed the city in a move never recognized by the international community.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are unable to visit East Jerusalem without special permits, and say that Israel's control of the city endangers their right to worship and a future Palestinian state, which is not viable without the eastern sector as its capital.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439957
Jordan minister calls to halt Al-Aqsa bridge demolition
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Jordan's Minister of Islamic Affairs Abdul Salam al-Abadi spoke out on Saturday against the plan of Israel's Jerusalem municipality to demolish and rebuild an access route to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City.
The minister said King Abdullah II of Jordan -- who met President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday -- had personally taken up the issue, official news agency Petra reported.
The bridge leading to Bab (gate) al-Margharbeh is a main entry point to the Islamic holy site the Haram al-Sharif -- a compound housing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem including the Old City after a 1967 war which usurped Jordanian rule in the city's east and the West Bank.
Israel's Jerusalem municipality said on Oct. 24 it needed to demolish and replace the bridge within 30 days due to danger of collapse or fire, PA official news agency Wafa reported.
The municipality had already obtained a permit to demolish the structure, but delayed it to allay inciting protests at any tampering with the flashpoint site which abuts Jewish holy site the Western Wall, Wafa reported.
Palestinian officials have appealed to halt the demolition and Jordan says it has developed an alternative solution with the UN's cultural agency UNESCO.
Al-Abadi said Sunday that Jordan -- which registered the site on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1981 -- was working with international organizations to stem the demolition. A 1994 peace agreement between Jordan and Israel recognized Jordan's special role regarding the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
"King Abdullah has said many times that Jerusalem is a red line that cannot be crossed," Al-Abadi told Petra.
"This bridge is an essential part of the holy Islamic site," he said, warning that the site was entrusted to Jordan and Muslims across the world.
"Israel should realize that the Islamic world is watching with tension all the Israeli projects and tunnels around al-Haram al-Sharif."
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are unable to visit East Jerusalem without special permits, and say that Israel's control of the city endangers their right to worship and a future Palestinian state, which is not viable without the eastern sector as its capital.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439659 5 dec 2011, 22:38 , Respect -
Maria 28 nov 2011
Israeli Bulldozers Level Areas of Qalandia To Build Annexation Wall
Israeli military bulldozers levelled farming lands of Qalandia town to build the Apartheid wall, the Palestine Info & News Agency, WAFA, reported Sunday afternoon.
Eyewitnesses stated that two Israeli military bulldozers, alongside with Israeli border guards, levelled farming lands belong to the townspeople of Qalandia in order to rebuild the Israeli-controlled Qalandia airport, as well as expanding the settlement of Atarot.
The track of the new wall being constructed would separate many of villagers' homes from the same town, and it would set them apart from the outside world, the eyewitnesses added.
The town of Qalandia lies north of the occupied city of Jerusalem. Moreover, an airport, called Qalandia Airport, and a refugee camp were constructed on the lands of the town, which has a population of 1,100, and it is surrounded with the Annexation Wall from the east and north. After the construction of the wall is complete, it will thoroughly separate the town from the outside world.
The mayor of the town, Jousef Awad, said that Israeli bulldozers are levelling and destroying vast areas of the town's lands, pointing out that "The villagers have fought the Israeli soldiers and bulldozers," and "We are asking for an international intervention to stop the Israeli actions against the lands of the town.".
He said that the lands being levelled by Israeli bulldozers belong to numerous Qalandia residents, and the area intended to be confiscated is around 400 acres.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62569
Israeli forces Demolish International Solidarity Center in Bil’in
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) - The Israeli occupation forces proceeded on Monday, without prior warning, the demolition of the international solidarity center in the village of Bil’in, West of the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to a press release issued by the Popular Committee against the Wall and settlement of Bil'in.
It said that Israeli forces confiscated all wood seats and waste containers which were placed six months ago in protection of the natural reserve (Abu Limon).
This process is designed to prevent the people of Bil'in and foreign peace activists to access and present in that region, noting that the center of international solidarity is located on land that was liberated, it added.
The center was built by the Popular Committee against the Wall and settlement, Bil'in people and international solidarity activists seven years ago on land that have been isolated by the wall at that time.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18161
Israeli demolition firm takes pride in West Bank operations
"illigal schools"
By Amira Hass
Having relatives in the West Bank is a problem. So is a school in the South Hebron Hills. The list of prohibitions is endless.
They passed by us proudly in their shiny shields and glittering wheels, these pot-bellied, gas-guzzling SUVs and a few jeeps with more modest engine sizes. They were returning from their operation's destination. It was Thursday, November 24, 2011. We didn't manage to see them in action, but we knew they were returning from routine demolition activity that doesn't get reported in our parts and understood as yet another detail in the ever-expanding historical reckoning this land's residents have with its masters.
The banal key words: Area C (South Hebron Hills), Civil Administration, military, Border Police, police, two bulldozers. Demolition orders for ICs (illegal construction ), trampled tents, tiny concrete structures in pieces. An adjacent water tanker, because hooking up to the water grid is against the law. And nearby, the glittering rooftops, set amid greenery, of the Jews' houses at the settlement Susya. And the little pool for taking a dip that the occupants of Mitzpeh Avigail fill with water from the adjacent spring.
Discrimination familiar ad nauseam.
"illegal water wells"
Still, we learned something new: The contracted demolition company was E.T. Law Services Ltd., as it said on the vests (fluorescent yellow ) that the half dozen workmen were wearing. Their job was to remove everything from the tents and little buildings earmarked for destruction: mattresses, sacks of flour and rice, more mattresses, an iron bed frame, pots, blankets, clothes, textbooks.
E.T. Law Services specializes in executing all the Bailiff's Office actions, its website reports. Demolitions represent merely one of its several fields, which include repossessions, the impounding of vehicles and evictions.
"illigal shops"
"Building demolitions are generally carried out on behalf of engineering departments at municipalities, the Civil Administration in the territories, local building committees and the like .... After a suitable order has been received for executing the demolition of an illegal structure, its demolition is carried out by professional teams, in coordination with the relevant authorities such as the Israel Police, the Israel Defense Forces, Magen David Adom, suppliers of heavy equipment and so forth."
A subcontractor brings the bulldozers. This is the second year in a row that E.T. Law Services has won the bid "from the Civil Administration in the territories to serve as the demolition contractor and the supplier of the mechanical engineering equipment and workers." The company has also been surveyed by The Standards Institution of Israel and found to meet the requirements of the Israeli and international standard in bailiff's office services, storage, building demolition and collection services for municipalities.
"illigal mosques"
Our minds are at rest. On November 24, the following demolitions were carried out in accordance with the international standard: two tents in which the Mughnem family lived on their land in the village of Susya; a small stone mosque in the little cave village Umm Faqara; a small residential structure belonging to one family; an improvised guest room of another family; and a rabbit pen.
Not in keeping with the standard, the demolition also damaged the residential cave in Umm Faqara, which is not illegal. Illegal electricity poles that were meant to connect Umm Faqara to the 21st century had already been uprooted on November 3. In Umm Faqara two teenage girls were arrested; an officer in the Israeli Border Police said they had attacked the detachment. One of two rabbits was killed. In Susya the demolition work was accompanied by silence.
"illigal graveyards"
There is no rest for the guardian of law and order. Only one day before the demolition in Susya, the Civil Administration posted more stop-work orders, the stage that precedes a demolition order. In danger of being demolished, then, are the school's main building, the bathrooms, the water cistern (when the law prohibits you from hooking up to the grid you go back to water cisterns ), and the road leading to the school.
There is no dispute that the Palestinian school was built without permits from the Israeli Civil Administration (after all, there are no permits when there is no master plan, and a master plan exists for the settlement Susya and not for the Palestinian Susya ). The Civil Administration guy's GPS also proved that the school, in its second year of operation, was built in Area C, 100 meters from Area B, which is under Palestinian civil-administrative jurisdiction.
Relatives in the West Bank
"illegal electricity poles"
S., an American citizen who works for an international organization registered in Jerusalem, applied for a work permit from the Israeli Interior Ministry. Her fellow foreign nationals had already received such a permit. She received the following written reply: "Since first-degree relatives reside in the territories and your father is a former resident of the territories, the decision of the headquarters of the Population and Immigration Authority (at the Interior Ministry ) is to deny the request."
Perhaps relatives in the West Bank is a sweeping criterion for not granting a work permit? According to Sabine Haddad, spokeswoman for the Population and Immigration Authority, "There is no criterion that distinguishes between foreign nationals of Palestinian origin and other foreign nationals in granting a work permit. However, with every application that is submitted for receiving a work permit, different parameters are examined, including the applicant's intent of settling down, the applicability of the temporary order and so on and so forth."
"illigal olive trees"
When S. applied for her work permit, she was required to specify in writing the names of all her relatives who live in the West Bank, to stipulate how frequently she sees them, and to detail the migration history of her father and mother (likewise from a Palestinian family ).
It was not of his own volition that the father, a West Bank native, became "a former resident." Israel used various tricks to make sure that Palestinians who, like him, left after 1967 for school and work lost their residency status. The Interior Ministry never rests. It does everything it can to prevent the daughter from returning, heaven forbid, to her family's home. She might settle down here and disrupt the demographic balance, God forbid.
http://fwd4.me/0hbH
Qalandia Residents Gather to Stop Israel Razing Land
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Palestinians from the village of Qalandia, south of Ramallah, Monday gathered to stop Israeli bulldozers from razing agricultural land in the village in preparation for expanding the Apartheid Wall, said an official.
Head of Qalandia village council, Yousef Awad, speaking to Voice of Palestine radio, said the area of the land to be razed and seized is estimated at 400 dunums (1 dunum=1000 square meters), and owned by a number of village residents.
Israeli bulldozers started razing land in the village on Sunday, according to witnesses, who reported that the land will be used for expanding the Wall and the nearby Atarot settlement, adding that the Wall will separate a number of residents’ homes from their village, and will completely isolate the village from its surroundings.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18150 5 dec 2011, 22:38 , Respect -
Maria 29 nov 2011
Ministry of Environmental Affairs: Israel Steals 85% of Palestinian Water
Palestinians in refugee camps such as this one in Jenin, home to 12,000 refugees, use water tanks instead of water networks
Jamil Matawir, deputy chairman of the PA Ministry of Environmental Affairs, said on Sunday that Israel controls up to 85% of Palestinian wells and underground water resources, negatively affecting the Palestinian ecosystem.
The conference in Ramallah where Matawir was speaking was held to “shed light on Israeli occupation polices against Palestinian water [resources], depriving people in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Matawir called on the United Nations to send a mission to investigate the effect of Israeli control of Palestinian water resources on the environment.
General director of the National Water Council Ahmed al-Hindi said the average individual Palestinian consumption reaches to 70 liters of water a day, in some rural areas going as low as 20 liters. The recommended level of the World Health Organization is 100 liters per day. The average individual Israeli consumption, according to Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, is 242 liters a day, or three times the Palestinian average.
“The Palestinian need for sufficient quantities of water is a sustained problem created by Israeli polices based on discrimination and deprivation,” said al-Hindi. “Israel controls the land and handicaps the work of the joint water committee, delaying implementation of water and sewage projects, destroying water wells and confiscating underground water in Areas B and C.”
Al-Hindi charged Israel with violating several international agreements, including the 1994 Oslo Accords, which mandates Israeli recognition of Palestinian rights to water and Article 55 of the Hague Regulations, which prevent Israel from using water resources of an occupied territory for any use besides the military or in excess of previous use levels.
Matawir also said Israel has uprooted more than 1.5 million olive trees since 2000. According to the 2009 UN Human Development report, uprooting trees has greatly affected the atmosphere. Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) has increased to 600 tons, while the remaining trees were able to absorb only about 1.5 percent of greenhouse gases.
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Farmland seized in Beit Ummar, local official says
HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli authorities handed over a decision Tuesday confiscating 12 dunums of land in Surif village northwest of Hebron and gave the owners orders to demolish a well and uproot trees.
Yousef Abu Maria, coordinator of the national committees in Beit Ummar, told Ma’an that the land is 5 kilometers from a wall Israel is maintaining to separate the village from a nearby settlement.
He added that the owners are registered as Jamal Muhammad Abdul Qadi and Ibrahim Abdul Hadi Hmeidat. The farmland has been planted with almond and olive crops for the past four years, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=440588
Palestinian Authority condemns settlement plans
Construction in Shilo
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority cabinet on Tuesday condemned Israel's decision to build new housing units in the illegal Shilo settlement, which is built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
Ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting, chaired by Salam Fayyad, also condemned Israel’s "continued illegal measures" to withhold Palestinian tax revenues over its membership of UNESCO.
"The Israeli government does not at all have the right to take such measures, which are a collective punishment against the Palestinian people leading to the collapse of its National Authority," a statement said.
The cabinet "also condemns statements by Israeli officials threatening to cut off water and electricity from the Gaza Strip and carry out punishment measures against the National Authority in the West Bank."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=440551
IOA orders demolition of Jerusalemite home
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority served a home demolition notice to a Jerusalemite family on Monday at the pretext the house was built without permit.
Fakhri Abu Diyab, a member of the committee for the defense of Silwan land, said that the IOA claimed that the home of Nawal Al-Jahalin in Jabal Mukabir was unlicensed and that the land on which it was built would be confiscated to build a road.
The IOA gave the Palestinian woman five months to tear down her home and leave the area, Abu Diyab said, adding that the house provided shelter for 11 individuals.
The owner of the land Nawal said that her suffering started ten years ago when the IOA razed her first home and she had to move to the other land lot that she owned.
She said, however, that the IOA did not leave them alone and now it was ordering her to leave her other land. “I don’t know where to go”, she said.
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Israeli Forces Raid Bethlehem, Hebron, Demolish Makeshift Watchtower in Bil'in
Bil'in locals sit down at the site of a demolished "international solidarity center" in the village
On Tuesday, Israeli forces raided a number of houses in the village of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, and arrested two youths. Eyewitnesses told Palestinian government news wire Wafa that the Israeli forces arrested
1- Mohammad Mahmoud Hassan Salah, 24, and
2- Alaa’ Hassan Da’dou’, 28,
after raiding their houses the main entrance to the village.
Locals also told Wafa that Israeli forces raided Hebron and arrested three citizens from the Old City, Alaa’ Musleh Abu Subeih, Ayman Dofesh Abu Ramouz, and Rami Abed al-Shkour al-Atrash. Soldiers alleged they threw stones at an Israeli police car in the Old City, which is under heavy Israeli security control.
Israeli forces also placed two military checkpoints on two major roads north of Hebron.
In Jerusalem, Israeli bulldozers demolished four Bedouin tents containing 40 people and several cattle barns belonging to the Bedouin al-Jahaleen family living in al-Sheikh Anbar neighborhood east of Jerusalem.
Locals told Wafa reporters that the Israeli soldiers attacked and severely beat the owners, Mohamad and Khader Awdeh al-Sa’adi, and closed the area to prevent anyone from going in or out.
Israeli forces also entered the central West Bank village of Bi’lin, west of Ramallah, and demolished its international solidarity center, which was built six months ago by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. The soldiers did not warn about the demolition beforehand. Wooden seats and trash containers were confiscated.
Activists claimed the structure was being used as a sort of watchpost to protect the nearby natural reserve of Abu Limon.
Bil’in citizens and international solidarity activists have been protesting the presence of the wall isolating the village for seven years.
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Op Ed: Vigil at Silwan House Slated for Demolition Postpones Despair
International solidarity activists gather at the home of the Sumrein family in Silwan, East Jerusalem
by Aaron Rotenberg
A month ago, the Sumrein family in Silwan, who live right beside the City of David Tourist site, received an order to leave their home of the last fifty years. Numerous East Jerusalem residents have been evicted from their homes, forced out by Elad, the deep-pocketed settler organization bent on Judaising the least Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
What is different this time around is that the eviction notices were brought by Himnuta, an organization that is actually a subsidiary of the Jewish National Fund. The JNF is as mainstream as Zionist organizations go. Personally, as a young student at Jewish day school in Toronto I have fond memories of placing change in the blue and white JNF “charity” boxes we had in each class.
The JNF mythology of rebuilding a barren land has long since been shattered for me, most recently with the continued demolitions carried out by the JNF in al-Araqib, an unrecognized Bedouin village. Rabbis for Human Rights began a campaign calling attention to JNF’s involvement to the Sumrein family’s situation in Silwan, targeting an international audience.
Mass emails sent to the JNF found the organization distancing itself, trying to push the blame onto Elad. However, unable to deny that the eviction orders were brought forward by Himnuta, the JNF, in response to the pressure has held off on the eviction that was slated for this Monday.
Silwan has been a volatile neighborhood, being located so close to the Old City. Politically motivated archeology on the Jewish side has claimed to have discovered the ancient city of King David and under dubious archeological grounds.
A brief video from the event:
(0:54) Vigil in Silwan Against House Evictions 25/11/11
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Israeli Bulldozers Demolish Bedouin Barracks in Jerusalem Area
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers Tuesday demolished four barracks and sheep pens belonging to Arab Bedouins in al-Za’eem neighborhood in East Jerusalem, according to local sources.
Residents said Israeli soldiers beat the owners of the barracks, which house forty members of al-Jahaleen Arab Bedouins, and closed the area, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18170...Read more 5 dec 2011, 22:38 , Respect -
Maria 30 nov 2011
Israel Bulldozes Land in Salfit, Demolishes Homes in Jordan Valley, Seize Computers, Cash in Nablus
On Wednesday morning, Israeli forces demolished tents belonging to Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley, bulldozed land in the central West Bank governorate of Salfit, and seized computers and $20,000 in cash from a Palestinian rental car company in Nablus.
Local sources told Palestinian government news wire Wafa that Israeli bulldozers demolished houses and tents in the villages of al-Hemma and Kardala. The demolitions were ongoing at the time of writing.
In Salfit, the farmer Hani Mohammed Amer called on Israel to stop bulldozing his land and uprooting the roughly 100 olive trees planted in the area Israeli forces plan to use to build the separation wall. Amer said that the wall would designate more land for the nearby illegal settlements of Azon Atma and Masha.
“I was surprised in the morning when I went to my land in Bayarrat al-Shalla area and I found the bulldozers uprooting my trees,” he said. Amer called on human rights organizations in Palestine to get involved.
In Nablus, Israeli troops raided a rental car company belonging to Wa’el al-Fattouh and seized computers, bank checks, customer applications, and $20,000 in cash.
Eyewitnesses said the forces also raided a building near the company, searched several nearby houses, and entered the old building of the Palestinian financial market in the al-Qaser Hotel.
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Israel frees Gaza fishermen but keeps boats
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israel has freed 10 fishermen detained off the Gaza coast but has not released their boats, a Palestinian official said Wednesday.
Mahfouz al-Kabarety, head of the Palestinian society for fishing and marine sports, said eight of the men had been detained on Tuesday and were released Wednesday. Two fishermen detained on Monday were freed Tuesday, he added.
On both occasions, Israel confiscated the fishermen's boats and has not returned them, the official said.
On Tuesday, an Israeli military spokeswoman said a boat "deviated from a designated fishing area" off the Gaza coast, and was instructed to reverse course by naval forces in the area. The boat failed to comply with the instructions and the crew was taken into custody, she said.
Palestine's UN observer said in October that by preventing fishermen from reaching 80 percent of available fishing waters, Israel exacerbated poverty in the Gaza Strip, in a report to the General Assembly.
Noting that most Gaza residents were dependent on food aid, the International Red Cross said in July that Gaza's fishing industry had almost disappeared due to Israeli restrictions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=440800
More Israeli Raids and Arrests near Hebron, Farmers Given 45 Days to Uproot Own Trees
On Wednesday, Israeli forces raided Beit Omar village, northwest of Hebron, and arrested three citizens. Israel has increased its encroachments into Beit Omar, often targeting children. Out of the 16 people arrested in the village, 13 were children.
Eyewitnesses told the official Palestinian news wire Wafa that Israeli forces raided and searched houses in the al-Bayadeh and Wadi al-Sheikh neighborhoods. The houses belonged to
--17-year-old Rashid Mohamad Issa Awad,
--22-year-old Mahamad Mahmoud Mahamad Ikhlil, and
--17-year old Yasser Faiz Mohamad Abu Fanous.
The three individuals were detained and taken to Etzion military detention center.
The soldiers arrested Rafeq Abdul Razaq Jaradat and Umar al-Sheikh Bhis from the villages of Sa'eer and Yatta, respectively.
Israeli forces also arrested 32-year-old Marwan Ahmed Sakharneh from Beit Ola village west of Hebron. The soldiers confiscated his tractor while he was plowing the lands in the Enjasat area, near the Israeli separation wall.
The towns and villages of Arabeh, Kufur Ra’e, al-Zawyeh, Anzeh, and Fahmeh were also raided but no arrests were recorded.
Israeli forces handed out demolition notices to the residents of Sourif, a village near Hebron. Activist Yousef Abu Maria told Wafa that the Israelis gave notices to Jamal Mohamad al-Qadi and Ibrahim Abdul Hadi Hamedat, informing them that their irrigation well and dozens of olive and almond trees would be destroyed. The well and trees are located in a 12-dunum (3 acre) plot of land near the separation wall. The soldiers gave al-Qadi and Hamedat 45 days to uproot their trees before bulldozers demolish them.
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Israeli Bulldozers Raze Land in Salfit to Expand Apartheid Wall
SALFIT, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers razed land and uprooted around 100 olive trees in Masha, a village northwest of Salfit in the northern West Bank, in preparation to expand the Apartheid Wall, land owner Hani Amer saidWednesday.
He told WAFA that he arrived at his land west of the village early in the morning and was surprised to find Israeli bulldozers razing his land. He expected that the razing started Tuesday evening.
“The new section of the wall aims to steal land in favor of expanding the settlement of Oranit,” said Amer.
He indicated that the area of the land, intended to be seized, is estimated at hundreds of dumuns and is owned by a number of village residents.
Amer called on international and humanitarian organizations in the Palestinian Territory and the Palestinian Authority to intervene and stop the Israeli aggression against his land.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18188
Israeli Army Bulldozers Destroy Palestinian Property in Jordon Valley
TUBAS, (WAFA) – Israeli army bulldozers Wednesday demolished tents used as homes, barracks, and animal barns in the village of Kardala, Khirbet al-Himmeh and Khirbet al-Farsiya, located in the far northern parts of the Jordon Valley, according to head of Al-Maleh village council, Aref Daraghmeh.
He said that Israeli forces surrounded the area during the demolition process, pointing to the ongoing demolitions in the Jordon Valley since the end of 2010.
He added that dozens of Palestinians lost their homes as a result of the Israeli measures in the Jordon Valley.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18187
Israeli forces uproot 100 olives trees in Salfit
SALFIT, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) destroyed 100 olive trees in the Salfit village of Masha to make way for building a section of the separation wall, local sources said on Wednesday.
Farmer Mohammed Amer appealed for an end to the destruction of his olive trees, charging that the IOF soldiers were destroying the trees to expand the nearby Jewish settlement of Ornet.
He told the media that he was stunned when he arrived at the site to witness IOF bulldozers uprooting his trees, adding that most probably the act started since yesterday.
He said that the IOF soldiers’ destruction streak covered hundreds of dunums of cultivated land owned by farmers in Masha and Azzun Atma.
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IOF soldiers detain three Palestinians in Al-Khalil, steal money in Nablus
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the village of Beit Ummar in Al-Khalil at dawn Wednesday and detained three Palestinian youths including two teenagers, local sources said.
They added that the soldiers thoroughly searched the houses of the three citizens before taking them away.
Meanwhile, IOF troops broke into a car rental company in Nablus city and stole a big amount of cash money in addition to computers, locals said.
They said that the soldiers blasted their way into Fattuh car rental company and stole 20000 dollars from its safe, business papers, and all computers in the facility.
Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers stormed a nearby building and searched a number of apartments in it.
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IOF soldiers raid central Gaza amidst intensive shooting
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) advanced a few hundred meters to the east of Breij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on Wednesday amidst intensive shooting at residential quarters.
Local sources said that the soldiers in three army tanks and a number of armored vehicles escorted four bulldozers into the area as reconnaissance planes flew overhead.
They said that the bulldozers destroyed land in the area as the soldiers were firing at nearby neighborhoods to scare off citizens.
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Witnesses: Israeli army vehicles enter Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli army vehicles entered the Gaza Strip early Wednesday as soldiers fired from military towers by the border, witnesses said.
Four bulldozers, three tanks and several other military vehicles were seen leveling farm land in the Juhor al-Dik and Maqbola neighborhoods near al-Bureij refugee camp, onlookers told Ma'an.
Meanwhile, several helicopters hovered in the area and soldiers stationed in army watchtowers fired gunshots, they added.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the vehicles were "on routine activity" in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=440660